Did the two men know each other? Did either of them know the woman? Did they approach her together? Separately? Did they intend to go to the circus, although they had no interest in watching it? Did they need to meet someone there? Did they have some kind of a bet? Was asking about the circus just an excuse to speak to her? Did they want to hear her voice, accent etc?

Did the two men know each other? yes Did either of them know the woman? no Did they approach her together? yes Separately? noDid they intend to go to the circus, although they had no interest in watching it? no Did they need to meet someone there? noDid they have some kind of a bet? no Was asking about the circus just an excuse to speak to her? no Did they want to hear her voice, accent etc? no

Would this puzzle work if the woman was a man? Did the men want the woman to answer? Were the men criminals/did they have criminal intentions? Was there a circus in town? Did they want to find out if the woman is just a tourist/visitor or actually living in town?

Did they actually need to know where the circus was? Would they be able to achieve their aims by asking her where the park was instead? Do the two men have exactly the same aims? Would it make a difference if there was just one man? if there were three men or more? If there were a few women? a group of both women and men?

Would this puzzle work if the woman was a man? yesDid the men want the woman to answer? yesWere the men criminals no/did they have criminal intentions? YESWas there a circus in town? yesDid they want to find out if the woman is just a tourist/visitor or actually living in town? no

JJ

Did they actually need to know where the circus was? no Would they be able to achieve their aims by asking her where the park was instead? noDo the two men have exactly the same aims? yesWould it make a difference if there was just one man? yes if there were three men or more? yes, minorly If there were a few women? YES a group of both women and men? YES

FA: they didn't pickpocket her? Did they snatch her bag, necklace etc? Did she know she had been robbed only after they left, or were they not at all discreet? Did they have a map with them? did she? did she use it when giving them directions? Would the men still be able to rob her if she didn't know where the circus was? if she gave them the wrong directions?

FA: they didn't pickpocket her? correct Did they snatch her bag, necklace etc? no Did she know she had been robbed only after they left, yes or were they not at all discreet? noDid they have a map with them? no did she? no did she use it when giving them directions? noWould the men still be able to rob her if she didn't know where the circus was? yes if she gave them the wrong directions? yes... explore

Did they know where the circus was? Could they have achieved the same effect by asking where the zoo was? Did they steal money? clothing? jewelry? watch? anything from a handbag? relevant what they stole?

Did they steal something she had used to answer their question? Was it relevant that: She took a certain amount of time to tell them where the circus was? She said a certain word? She revealed personal information about herself?

Did they actually rob her while she gave directions? Some time afterwards? Some time before?

Did they know where the circus was? irrelevant Could they have achieved the same effect by asking where the zoo was? yesDid they steal money? clothing? jewelry? watch? none of these anything from a handbag? no relevant what they stole? yes

Comforteagle

Did they steal something she had used to answer their question? noWas it relevant that: She took a certain amount of time to tell them where the circus was? yesShe said a certain word? noShe revealed personal information about herself? no

Did they actually rob her while she gave directions? yes Some time afterwards? Some time before? neither

Was she sitting yes (on the curb? on the stoop of a building?) neither when they asked her? Was she walking? no Getting into or out of a vehicle? no

Would any question have served them as well, as long as it distracted her? not quite as long as it caused her to stop what she was doing? no as long as it caused her to turn her head? a question with this effect would have been effective also, but less so

Did they steal a shopping bag? a package? packages? a garment? (had she laid her coat on the car while she was unlocking it, maybe?) no to all the above

Was she sitting in a vehicle? in a privately-owned car? (with the windows down? with the windows up? with the door open?) in a bus? in a cab? at a sidewalk cafe? (did they steal her food? her phone? her iPod? her newspaper?)

Building on Mycroft's q's: Did they have something other than a map that they showed her? That they asked her to look at? Was it important to them that she look in a particular direction? If so, was that direction up? down? up and to the left? up and to the right? up and behind her? down and to the right? down and to the left? down and behind her? behind her? straight ahead? or would it be sufficient for their purposes that she look away from something else? Did she have something that they wanted her to look at?

Was she sitting in a vehicle? no in a privately-owned car? no (with the windows down? with the windows up? with the door open?) in a bus? in a cab? at a sidewalk cafe? <--yes(did they steal her food? her phone? <--yes her iPod? her newspaper?)

Building on Mycroft's q's: Did they have something other than a map that they showed her? no That they asked her to look at? no Was it important to them that she look in a particular direction? noIf so, was that direction up? down? up and to the left? up and to the right? up and behind her? down and to the right? down and to the left? down and behind her? behind her? straight ahead? or would it be sufficient for their purposes that she look away from something else? yesDid she have something that they wanted her to look at? YES

Dabong

is there any possibility that the woman was dressed in a very wierd way, therefore when the men asked her about the circus, they were just making fun of her? It's entirely possible, just not the solution

0815

Any animals relevant? no Did the men bring along some animal? no...that distracted the woman? no

is this the old trick of putting a map down on the table on top of the phone and then stealing the phone when you pick the map up? More or less, my solution involved her looking it up in a newspaper, but this works just as well.

***** SPOILER *****

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